“I’m hangin’ her up.”
Terry Roach has been in public service for the better part of 43 years. He’ll be retiring as White Oak Police Chief April 25 after more than a decade leading the department.
A veteran of both the military and local law enforcement, Roach officially notified White Oak City Council members of his looming resignation and retirement for Tuesday evening’s monthly session.
Looking back on more than three decades as a police officer, at the top of his mind as that career comes to a close is the longevity of personnel at White Oak PD.
“We don’t have a big turnover rate,” Roach said this week. “People sort of come to White Oak to work, and they end up staying here,” a point of pride. “We’ve got a long tenure here.”
That, of course, comes in addition to the department’s recognition through the Texas Police Chief’s Association for adhering to the tenets of the Texas Law Enforcement Best Practices Program. A past president and leader in the association, Roach was instrumental in WOPD gaining its distinctions; the department continues following those best practices, earning its most recent re-accreditation last year.
With the council’s monthly session falling after press time Tuesday, there’s no official word yet on how the city will fill Roach’s boots.
“That will be discussed, but I think we’re going internal,” White Oak City Coordinator Jimmy Purcell said.
A Longview High School graduate and Kilgore College alum, Roach served in the U.S. Air Force before he began his law enforcement career with Gladewater Police Department in 1993. He spent significant time and effort there curtailing the local drug trade alongside his canine partner, Dusty, a black lab.
Roach hired on with the City of White Oak Police Department in 2001. Beginning as a patrol sergeant, he climbed the ranks to lieutenant and detective before he became assistant chief then interim and chief in when Charlie Smith was elevated to city manager in 2014.
“I think people move to this city just for the school,” he said, and WOPD cultivates a good relationship with the local district. “I’ve know that ever since I came here.”
White Oak PD employs 16 officers and four 911 operators, and Roach is confident in the agency’s future once his successor is named, preferably from within the current ranks.
“I think it’s gonna go without a hitch,” he said. “I think the only time you hire outside is if you have problems you have to address, and we don’t have that here.
“They hired Charle from within also. It went from him to me without a hitch, and hopefully it’ll go from me to my next one without a hitch.”